Set of Tumour-Markers

ABSTRACT

The present invention provides a set of moieties specific for tumor markers, in particular of follicular thyroid carcinoma (FTC) and papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) as well as a method for identifying markers of any genetic disease.

The present invention relates to the field of cancer diagnosis and diagnostic means therefor.

Thyroid nodules are endemic in iodine deficient areas, like Europes alpine regions, where they have a prevalence of 10-20%. They are classified by their histology into the 2 benign types Struma nodosa (SN) and Follicular Thyroid Adenoma (FTA) and the malignant entities Follicular Thyroid Carcinoma (FTC), Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma (PTC), Medullary Thyroid Carcinoma (MTC) and Anaplastic Thyroid Carcinoma (ATC). Conventionally, discrimination between benign and malignant thyroid nodules is done by scintigraphy and fine needle aspiration followed by histology. Despite many advances in the diagnosis and therapy of thyroid nodules and thyroid cancer, these methods have a well known lack of specificity, particularly for the discrimination between ETA and FTC, which leads to a number of patients unnecessarily treated for malignant disease.

Given the diagnostic limitations of previous methods, in particular fine needle aspiration followed by cytology, multiple investigators have carried out expression profiling studies with hopes of identifying new diagnostic tools. Such analyses attempt to identify differentially expressed genes with an important role in disease development or progression using large-scale transcript-level expression profiling technologies such as cDNA microarrays, oligonucleotide arrays and Serial Analysis of Gene Expression (SAGE). Typically, dozens or hundreds of genes are identified, many of which are expected to be false positives, and only a small fraction useful as diagnostic/prognostic markers or therapeutic targets (Griffith et al., J Clin Oncol 24(31):5043-5051 (2006)).

In other types of cancer it has been shown that gene expression profiling can add substantial value to the discrimination of the different clinically relevant tumour-entities. The US 2006/183141 A e.g. describes classification of tumor markers from a core serum response signature. Different studies have tried to classify the different entities of thyroid carcinoma on the basis of their gene expression profiles each of them discriminates between 2 of the 5 entities. However, the studies have no or very few genes in common and applying a classier from one study to the data from another study generally yields poor classification results.

It is a goal of the present invention to provide reliable distinctive markers for the diagnosis of cancer, in particular to distinguish benign thyroid nodules from malignant follicular thyroid carcinoma (FTC) and papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC).

Therefore the present invention provides a set of moieties specific for at least 3 tumor markers selected from the tumor markers PI-1 to PI-33, PII-1 to PII-64, PIII-1 to PIII-70, fi-1 to fi-147, PIV-1 to PIV-9, preferably PIV-4 or PIV-5, and PV-1 to PV-11, preferably PV-1, PV-2 and PV-4 to PV-11. These tumor markers are related to different genes aberrantly expressed in tumors and are given in tables 1 to 6 and can be identified by their gene identification sign, their descriptive gene name, but most unambiguously by their UniGeneID or their Accession number referring to specific sequences in common sequence databases such as NCBI GenBank, EMBL-EBI Database, EnsEMBL or the DNA Data Bank of Japan. These markers have been identified in form of preferred sets (PI to PV, FI) but can be combined in any form as targets for the inventive set.

TABLE 1 PTC marker set PI-1 to PI-33 Number marker PI- gene description of gene Accession Nr. UniGeneID 1 BBS9 Bardet-Biedl NM_198428 Hs.372360 syndrome 9 NM_001033605 NM_001033604 NM_014451 2 C13orf1 Chromosome NM_020456 Hs.44235 13 open reading frame 1 3 CBFA2T3 Core-binding NM_005187 NM_175931 Hs.513811 factor, runt domain, alpha subunit 2 4 CDT1 Chromatin licensing and DANN NM_030928 Hs.122908 replication factor 1 5 CRK V-crk sarcoma virus CT10 oncogene NM_016823 NM_005206 Hs.638121 homolog (avian) 6 CTPS CTP synthase NM_001905 Hs.473087 7 DAPK2 Death-associated protein kinase 2 NM_014326 Hs.237886 8 EIF5 Eukaryotic translation initiation factor 5 NM_001969 NM_183004 Hs.433702 9 EREG Epiregulin NM_001432 Hs.115263 10 GK Glycerol kinase NM_203391 NM_000167 Hs.1466 11 GPATCH8 G patch domain containing 8 NM_001002909 Hs.463129 12 HDGF Hepatoma-derived growth factor NM_004494 Hs.506748 (high-mobility group protein 1-like) 13 IRF2BP1 Interferon regulatory factor 2 binding protein 1 NM_015649 Hs.515477 14 KRT83 Keratin 83 NM_002282 Hs.661428 15 MYOD1 Myogenic differentiation 1 NM_002478 Hs.181768 16 NME6 Non-metastatic cells 6, protein expressed in NM_005793 Hs.465558 (nucleoside-diphosphate kinase) 17 POLE3 Polymerase (DNA directed), epsilon 3 NM_017443 Hs.108112 (p17 subunit) 18 PPP1R13B Protein phosphatase 1, regulatory (inhibitor) NM_015316 Hs.436113 subunit 13B 19 PRPH2 Peripherin 2 (retinal degeneration, slow) NM_000322 Hs.654489 20 RASSF7 Ras association (RalGDS/AF-6) domain NM_003475 Hs.72925 family 7 21 ROCK2 Rho-associated, coiled-coil containing NM_004850 Hs.591600 protein kinase 2 22 RTN1 Reticulon 1 NM_021136 NM_206857 Hs.368626 NM_206852 23 S100B S100 calcium binding protein B NM_006272 Hs.422181 24 SLIT2 Slit homolog 2 (Drosophila) NM_004787 Hs.29802 25 SNRPB2 Small nuclear ribonucleoprotein polypeptide NM_003092 NM_198220 Hs.280378 B″ 26 SPAG7 Sperm associated antigen 7 NM_004890 Hs.90436 27 STAU1 Staufen, RNA binding protein, homolog 1 NM_017453 Hs.596704 (Drosophila) NM_001037328 NM_004602 NM_017452 NM_017454 28 SUPT5H Suppressor of Ty 5 homolog (S. cerevisiae) NM_003169 Hs.631604 29 TBX10 T-box 10 NM_005995 Hs.454480 30 TLK1 Tousled-like kinase 1 NM_012290 Hs.655640 31 TM4SF4 Transmembrane 4 L six family member 4 NM_004617 Hs.133527 32 TXN Thioredoxin NM_003329 Hs.435136 33 UFD1L Ubiquitin fusion degradation 1 like (yeast) NM_005659 Hs.474213 NM_001035247

TABLE 2 PTC marker set PII-1 to PII-64 Number marker PII- gene description of gene Accession Nr. UniGeneID 1 ADH1B Alcohol dehydrogenase IB (class I), beta NM_000668 Hs.4 polypeptide 2 AGR2 Anterior gradient homolog 2 NM_006408 Hs.530009 (Xenopus laevis) 3 AGTR1 Angiotensin II receptor, type 1 NM_031850 NM_004835 Hs.477887 NM_009585 NM_032049 4 AGTR1 Angiotensin II receptor, type 1 NM_000685 Hs.654382 5 ALDH1A1 Aldehyde dehydrogenase NM_000689 Hs.76392 1 family, member A1 6 ALDH1A3 Aldehyde dehydrogenase NM_000693 Hs.459538 1 family, member A3 7 AMIGO2 Adhesion molecule with Ig-like NM_181847 Hs.121520 domain 2 8 ATP2C2 ATPase, Ca++ transporting, NM_014861 Hs.6168 type 2C, member 2 9 BID BH3 interacting domain death NM_197966 NM_001196 Hs.591054 agonist NM_197967 10 C7orf24 Chromosome 7 open reading NM_024051 Hs.530024 frame 24 11 CA4 Carbonic anhydrase IV NM_000717 Hs.89485 12 CCL21 Chemokine (C-C motif) ligand 21 NM_002989 Hs.57907 13 CD55 CD55 molecule, decay NM_000574 Hs.527653 accelerating factor for complement (Cromer blood group) 14 CDH16 Cadherin 16, KSP-cadherin NM_004062 Hs.513660 15 CDH3 Cadherin 3, type 1, P-cadherin NM_133458 NM_001793 Hs.461074 (placental) 16 CFI Complement factor I NM_000204 Hs.312485 17 CHI3L1 Chitinase 3-like 1 (cartilage NM_001276 Hs.382202 glycoprotein-39) 18 CHST2 Carbohydrate NM_004267 Hs.8786 (N-acetylglucosamine-6-O) sulfotransferase 2 19 CITED2 Cbp/p300-interacting NM_006079 Hs.82071 transactivator, with Glu/Asp-rich carboxy-terminal domain, 2 20 CLCNKB Chloride channel Kb NM_000085 Hs.352243 21 COMP Cartilage oligomeric matrix NM_000095 Hs.1584 protein 22 CTSH Cathepsin H NM_004390 NM_148979 Hs.148641 23 DIO2 Deiodinase, iodothyronine, NM_013989 NM_000793 Hs.202354 type II NM_001007023 24 DIRAS3 DIRAS family, GTP-binding NM_004675 Hs.194695 RAS-like 3 25 DUSP4 Dual specificity phosphatase 4 NM_057158 NM_001394 Hs.417962 26 DUSP5 Dual specificity phosphatase 5 NM_004419 Hs.2128 27 EDN3 Endothelin 3 NM_207032 NM_207034 Hs.1408 NM_207033 NM_000114 28 ENTPD1 Ectonucleoside triphosphate NM_001776 Hs.576612 diphosphohydrolase 1 NM_001098175 29 FHL1 Four and a half LIM domains 1 NM_001449 Hs.435369 30 GDF15 Growth differentiation factor 15 NM_004864 Hs.616962 31 GPM6A Glycoprotein M6A NM_201591 NM_005277 Hs.75819 NM_201592 32 HBA1 Hemoglobin, alpha 1 NM_000558 Hs.449630 33 IRS1 Insulin receptor substrate 1 NM_005544 Hs.471508 34 KCNJ2 Potassium inwardly-rectifying NM_000891 Hs.1547 channel, subfamily J, member 2 35 KCNN4 Potassium intermediate/small NM_002250 Hs.10082 conductance calcium-activated channel, subfamily N, member 4 36 KLK10 Kallikrein-related peptidase 10 NM_002776 Hs.275464 NM_001077500 NM_145888 37 LAMB3 Laminin, beta 3 NM_001017402 Hs.497636 NM_000228 38 LCN2 Lipocalin 2 (oncogene 24p3) NM_005564 Hs.204238 39 LMOD1 Leiomodin 1 (smooth muscle) NM_012134 Hs.519075 40 MATN2 Matrilin 2 NM_002380 NM_030583 Hs.189445 41 MPPED2 Metallophosphoesterase NM_001584 Hs.289795 domain containing 2 42 MVP Major vault protein NM_017458 NM_005115 Hs.632177 43 NELL2 NEL-like 2 (chicken) NM_006159 Hs.505326 44 NFE2L3 Nuclear factor (erythroid-derived NM_004289 Hs.404741 2)-like 3 45 NPC2 Niemann-Pick disease, type C2 NM_006432 Hs.433222 46 NRCAM Neuronal cell adhesion molecule NM_001037132 Hs.21422 NM_005010 NM_001037133 47 NRIP1 Nuclear receptor interacting NM_003489 Hs.155017 protein 1 48 PAPSS2 3′-phosphoadenosine NM_001015880 Hs.524491 5′-phosphosulfate synthase 2 NM_004670 49 PDLIM4 PDZ and LIM domain 4 NM_003687 Hs.424312 50 PDZK1IP1 PDZK1 interacting protein 1 NM_005764 Hs.431099 51 PIP3-E Phosphoinositide-binding protein NM_015553 Hs.146100 PIP3-E 52 PLAU Plasminogen activator, urokinase NM_002658 Hs.77274 53 PRSS2 Protease, serine, 2 (trypsin 2) NM_002770 Hs.622865 54 PRSS23 Protease, serine, 23 NM_007173 Hs.25338 55 RAP1GAP RAP1 GTPase activating protein NM_002885 Hs.148178 56 S100A11 S100 calcium binding protein A11 NM_005620 Hs.417004 57 SFTPB Surfactant, pulmonary-associated NM_198843 NM_000542 Hs.512690 protein B 58 SLPI Secretory leukocyte peptidase NM_003064 Hs.517070 inhibitor 59 SOD3 Superoxide dismutase 3, NM_003102 Hs.2420 extracellular 60 SPINT1 Serine peptidase inhibitor, Kunitz type 1 NM_181642 NM_003710 Hs.233950 NM 001032367 61 SYNE1 Spectrin repeat containing, NM_182961 NM_033071 Hs.12967 nuclear envelope 1 NM_015293 NM_133650 62 TACSTD2 Tumor-associated calcium signal transducer 2 NM_002353 Hs.23582 63 UPP1 Uridine phosphorylase 1 NM_181597 NM_003364 Hs.488240 64 WASF3 WAS protein family, member 3 NM_006646 Hs.635221

TABLE 3 PTC marker set PIII-1 to PIII-70 Number marker PIII- gene description of gene Accession Nr. UniGeneID 1 APOE Apolipoprotein E NM_000041 Hs.654439 2 ATIC 5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide ribo- NM_004044 Hs.90280 nucleotide formyltransferase/IMP cyclohydrolase 3 BASP1 Brain abundant, membrane attached signal NM_006317 Hs.201641 protein 1 4 C9orf61 Chromosome 9 open reading frame 61 NM_004816 Hs.118003 5 CCL13 Chemokine (C-C motif) ligand 13 NM_005408 Hs.414629 6 CD36 CD36 molecule (thrombospondin receptor) NM_001001548 Hs.120949 NM_001001547 NM_000072 7 CDH6 Cadherin 6, type 2, K-cadherin (fetal kidney) NM_004932 Hs.171054 8 CFB Complement factor B NM_001710 Hs.69771 9 CFD Complement factor D (adipsin) NM_001928 Hs.155597 10 CLDN10 Claudin 10 NM_182848 NM_006984 Hs.534377 11 COL11A1 Collagen, type XI, alpha 1 NM_080629 NM_001854 Hs.523446 NM_080630 12 COL13A1 Collagen, type XIII, alpha 1 NM_005203 NM_080804 Hs.211933 NM_080798 NM_080803 NM_080802 NM_080799 NM_080800 NM_080801NM_080808 NM_080809 NM_080805 NM_080807 NM_080806 NM_080811 NM_080810NM_080812 NM_080813 NM_080814 NM_080815 13 CORO2B Coronin, actin binding protein, 2B NM_006091 Hs.551213 14 CRLF1 Cytokine receptor-like factor 1 NM_004750 Hs.114948 15 CXorf6 Chromosome X open reading frame 6 NM_005491 Hs.20136 16 DDB2 Damage-specific DNA binding protein 2, NM_000107 Hs.655280 48 kDa 17 DPP6 Dipeptidyl-peptidase 6 NM_001039350 Hs.490684 NM_130797 NM_001936 18 ECM1 Extracellular matrix protein 1 NM_004425 NM_022664 Hs.81071 19 EFEMP1 EGF-containing fibulin-like extracellular NM_004105 Hs.76224 matrix protein 1 NM_001039348 NM_001039349 20 ESRRG Estrogen-related receptor gamma NM_206594 NM_001438 Hs.444225 NM_206595 21 ETHE1 Ethylmalonic encephalopathy 1 NM_014297 Hs.7486 22 FAS Fas (TNF receptor superfamily, member 6) NM_000043 NM_152872 Hs.244139 NM_152871 NM_152873 NM_152875 NM_152874 NM_152877 NM_152876 23 FMOD Fibromodulin NM_002023 Hs.519168 24 GABBR2 Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) B receptor, 2 NM_005458 Hs.198612 25 GALE UDP-galactose-4-epimerase NM_000403 Hs.632380 NM_001008216 26 GATM Glycine amidinotransferase (L-arginine: glycine NM_001482 Hs.75335 amidinotransferase) 27 GDF10 Growth differentiation factor 10 NM_004962 Hs.2171 28 GHR Growth hormone receptor NM_000163 Hs.125180 29 GPC3 Glypican 3 NM_004484 Hs.644108 30 ICAM1 Intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (CD54), NM_000201 Hs.643447 human rhinovirus receptor 31 ID3 Inhibitor of DNA binding 3, dominant negative NM_002167 Hs.76884 helix-loop-helix protein 32 IER2 Immediate early response 2 NM_004907 Hs.501629 33 IGFBP6 Insulin-like growth factor binding protein 6 NM_002178 Hs.274313 34 IQGAP2 IQ motif containing GTPase activating protein 2 NM_006633 Hs.291030 35 ITGA2 Integrin, alpha 2 (CD49B, alpha 2 subunit NM_002203 Hs.482077 of VLA-2 receptor) 36 ITGA3 Integrin, alpha 3 (antigen CD49C, alpha 3 NM_002204 NM_005501 Hs.265829 subunit of VLA-3 receptor) 37 ITM2A Integral membrane protein 2A NM_004867 Hs.17109 38 KIAA0746 KIAA0746 protein NM_015187 Hs.479384 39 LRIG1 Leucine-rich repeats and immunoglobulin- NM_015541 Hs.518055 like domains 1 40 LRP2 Low density lipoprotein-related protein 2 NM_004525 Hs.470538 41 LY6E Lymphocyte antigen 6 complex, locus E NM_002346 Hs.521903 42 MAPK13 Mitogen-activated protein kinase 13 NM_002754 Hs.178695 43 MDK Midkine (neurite growth-promoting factor NM_001012334 Hs.82045 2) NM_001012333 NM_002391 44 MLLT11 Myeloid/lymphoid or mixed-lineage leukemia NM_006818 Hs.75823 (trithorax homolog, Drosophila) 45 MMRN1 Multimerin 1 NM_007351 Hs.268107 46 MTMR11 Myotubularin related protein 11 NM_181873 Hs.425144 47 MXRA8 Matrix-remodelling associated 8 NM_032348 Hs.558570 48 NAB2 NGFI-A binding protein 2 (EGR1 binding NM_005967 Hs.159223 protein 2) 49 NMU Neuromedin U NM_006681 Hs.418367 50 OCA2 Oculocutaneous albinism II (pink-eye dilution NM_000275 Hs.654411 homolog, mouse) 51 PDE5A Phosphodiesterase 5A, cGMP-specific NM_001083 NM_033430 Hs.647971 NM_033437 52 PLAG1 Pleiomorphic adenoma gene 1 NM_002655 Hs.14968 53 PLP2 Proteolipid protein 2 (colonic epithelium- NM_002668 Hs.77422 enriched) 54 PLXNC1 Plexin C1 NM_005761 Hs.584845 55 PRKCQ Protein kinase C, theta NM_006257 Hs.498570 56 PRUNE Prune homolog (Drosophila) NM_021222 Hs.78524 57 RAB27A RAB27A, member RAS oncogene family NM_004580 NM_183234 Hs.654978 NM_183235 NM_183236 58 RYR2 Ryanodine receptor 2 (cardiac) NM_001035 Hs.109514 59 SCEL Sciellin NM_144777 NM_003843 Hs.534699 60 SELENBP1 Selenium binding protein 1 NM_003944 Hs.632460 61 SORBS2 Sorbin and SH3 domain containing 2 NM_021069 NM_003603 Hs.655143 62 STMN2 Stathmin-like 2 NM_007029 Hs.521651 63 TBC1D4 TBC1 domain family, member 4 NM_014832 Hs.210891 64 TM4SF4 Transmembrane 4 L six family member 4 NM_004617 Hs.133527 65 TNC Tenascin C (hexabrachion) NM_002160 Hs.143250 66 TPD52L1 Tumor protein D52-like 1 NM_001003395 Hs.591347 NM_003287 NM_001003396 NM_001003397 67 TSC22D1 TSC22 domain family, member 1 NM_183422 NM_006022 Hs.507916 68 TTC30A Tetratricopeptide repeat domain 30A NM_152275 Hs.128384 69 VLDLR Very low density lipoprotein receptor NM_003383 Hs.370422 NM_001018056 70 WFS1 Wolfram syndrome 1 (wolframin) NM_006005 Hs.518602

TABLE 4 FTC marker set FI-1 to FI-147 Number FI- marker gene description of gene Accession Nr. UniGeneID 1 AATF Apoptosis antagonizing transcription NM_012138 Hs.195740 factor 2 ACOX3 Acyl-Coenzyme A oxidase 3, NM_003501 Hs.479122 pristanoyl 3 AHDC1 AT hook, DNA binding motif, containing 1 NM_001029882 Hs.469280 4 ALAS2 Aminolevulinate, delta-, synthase 2 NM_000032 Hs.522666 (sideroblastic/hypochromic anemia) NM_001037968 NM_001037967 NM_001037969 5 ALKBH1 AlkB, alkylation repair homolog 1 (E. coli) NM_006020 Hs.94542 6 ANGPTL2 Angiopoietin-like 2 NM_012098 Hs.653262 7 AP2A2 Adaptor-related protein complex 2, alpha NM_012305 Hs.19121 2 subunit 8 APOBEC3G Apolipoprotein B mRNA editing enzyme, NM_021822 Hs.660143 catalytic polypeptide-like 3G 9 APRIN Androgen-induced proliferation inhibitor NM_015032 Hs.693663 10 ARNT Aryl hydrocarbon receptor nuclear NM_001668 Hs.632446 translocator NM_178427 NM_178426 11 AZGP1 Alpha-2-glycoprotein 1, zinc-binding NM_001185 Hs.546239 12 BAT2D1 BAT2 domain containing 1 NM_015172 Hs.494614 13 BATF Basic leucine zipper transcription NM_006399 Hs.509964 factor, ATF-like 14 BPHL Biphenyl hydrolase-like (serine hydrolase NM_004332 Hs.10136 15 C13orf1 Chromosome 13 open reading frame 1 NM_020456 Hs.44235 16 C14orf1 Chromosome 14 open reading frame 1 NM_007176 Hs.15106 17 C2orf3 Chromosome 2 open reading frame 3 NM_003203 Hs.303808 18 CBFB Core-binding factor, beta subunit NM_001755 Hs.460988 NM_022845 19 CBR3 Carbonyl reductase 3 NM_001236 Hs.154510 20 CBX5 Chromobox homolog 5 (HP1 alpha homolog, NM_012117 Hs.632724 Drosophila) 21 CCNE2 Cyclin E2 NM_057749 Hs.567387 NM_057735 22 CD46 CD46 molecule, complement regulatory NM_002389 Hs.510402 protein NM_172354 NM_172351 NM_172355 NM_172352 NM_172359 NM_172357 NM_172360 NM_153826 NM_172358 NM_172356 NM_172353 NM_172361 NM_172350 23 CHPF Chondroitin polymerizing factor NM_024536 Hs.516711 24 CHST3 Carbohydrate (chondroitin 6) sulfotransferase 3 NM_004273 Hs.158304 25 CLCN2 Chloride channel 2 NM_004366 Hs.436847 26 CLCN4 Chloride channel 4 NM_001830 Hs.495674 27 CLIC5 Chloride intracellular channel 5 NM_016929 Hs.485489 28 CNOT2 CCR4-NOT transcription complex, NM_014515 Hs.133350 subunit 2 29 COPS6 COP9 constitutive photomorphogenic NM_006833 Hs.15591 homolog subunit 6 (Arabidopsis) 30 CPZ Carboxypeptidase Z NM_001014448 Hs.78068 NM_001014447 NM_003652 31 CSK C-src tyrosine kinase NM_004383 Hs.77793 32 CTDP1 CTD (carboxy-terminal domain, RNA NM_004715 Hs.465490 polymerase II, polypeptide A) phosphatase, NM_048368 subunit 1 33 DDEF2 Development and differentiation enhancing NM_003887 Hs.555902 factor 2 34 DKFZP586H2123 Regeneration associated muscle protease NM_015430 Hs.55044 NM_001001991 35 DLG2 Discs, large homolog 2, chapsyn-110 NM_001364 Hs.654862 (Drosophila) 36 DPAGT1 Dolichyl-phosphate (UDP-N-acetylglucosamine) NM_001382 Hs.524081 N-acetylglucosaminephosphotransferase NM_203316 1 (GlcNAc-1-P transferase) 37 DSCR1 Down syndrome critical region gene 1 NM_004414 Hs.282326 NM_203418 NM_203417 38 DUSP8 Dual specificity phosphatase 8 NM_004420 Hs.41688 39 EI24 Etoposide induced 2.4 mRNA NM_004879 Hs.643514 NM_001007277 40 ENOSF1 Enolase superfamily member 1 NM_017512 Hs.369762 41 ERCC1 Excision repair cross-complementing NM_202001 Hs.435981 rodent repair deficiency, complementation NM_001983 group 1 (includes overlapping antisense sequence) 42 ERCC3 Excision repair cross-complementing NM_000122 Hs.469872 rodent repair deficiency, complementation group 3 (xeroderma pigmentosum group B complementing) 43 ERH Enhancer of rudimentary homolog NM_004450 Hs.509791 (Drosophila) 44 F13A1 Coagulation factor XIII, A1 polypeptide NM_000129 Hs.335513 45 FAM20B Family with sequence similarity 20, NM_014864 Hs.5737 member B 46 FBP1 Fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase 1 NM_000507 Hs.494496 47 FCGR2A Fc fragment of IgG, low affinity IIa, receptor NM_021642 Hs.352642 (CD32) 48 FGF13 Fibroblast growth factor 13 NM_004114 Hs.6540 NM_033642 49 FGFR1OP FGFR1 oncogene partner NM_007045 Hs.487175 NM_194429 50 FLNC Filamin C, gamma (actin binding NM_001458 Hs.58414 protein 280) 51 FMO5 Flavin containing monooxygenase 5 NM_001461 Hs.642706 52 FRY Furry homolog (Drosophila) NM_023037 Hs.591225 53 GADD45G Growth arrest and DNA-damage-inducible, NM_006705 Hs.9701 gamma 54 GCH1 GTP cyclohydrolase 1 (dopa- NM_000161 Hs.86724 responsive dystonia) NM_001024024 NM_001024070 NM_001024071 55 GFRA1 GDNF family receptor alpha 1 NM_005264 Hs.591913 NM_145793 56 GLB1 Galactosidase, beta 1 NM_001039770 Hs.443031 NM_000404 NM_001079811 57 GOLGA8A Golgi autoantigen, golgin subfamily a, NM_181077 Hs.182982 8A NM_001023567 58 HCLS1 Hematopoietic cell-specific Lyn substrate 1 NM_005335 Hs.14601 59 HDGF Hepatoma-derived growth factor (high- NM_004494 Hs.506748 mobility group protein 1-like) 60 HRC Histidine rich calcium binding protein NM_002152 Hs.436885 61 ICMT Isoprenylcysteine carboxyl methyl- NM_012405 Hs.562083 transferase 62 IFNA5 Interferon, alpha 5 NM_002169 Hs.37113 63 IGF2BP3 Insulin-like growth factor 2 mRNA NM_006547 Hs.648088 binding protein 3 64 IL12A Interleukin 12A (natural killer cell stimulatory NM_000882 Hs.673 factor 1, cytotoxic lymphocyte maturation factor 1, p35) 65 ITIH2 Inter-alpha (globulin) inhibitor H2 NM_002216 Hs.75285 66 ITPKC Inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate 3-kinase C NM_025194 Hs.515415 67 JMJD2A Jumonji domain containing 2A NM_014663 Hs.155983 68 KCNJ15 Potassium inwardly-rectifying channel, NM_170736 Hs.411299 subfamily J, member 15 NM_002243 NM_170737 69 KCTD12 Potassium channel tetramerisation domain NM_138444 Hs.693617 containing 12 70 KIAA0652 KIAA0652 NM_014741 Hs.410092 71 KIAA0913 KIAA0913 NM_015037 Hs.65135 72 KLKB1 Kallikrein B, plasma (Fletcher factor) 1 NM_000892 Hs.646885 73 KRT37 Keratin 37 NM_003770 Hs.673852 74 LAMB3 Laminin, beta 3 NM_001017402 Hs.497636 NM_000228 75 LPHN3 Latrophilin 3 NM_015236 Hs.694758 Hs.649524 76 LRIG1 Leucine-rich repeats and immunoglobulin- NM_015541 Hs.518055 like domains 1 77 LSR Lipolysis stimulated lipoprotein receptor NM_205834 Hs.466507 NM_015925 NM_205835 78 MANBA Mannosidase, beta A, lysosomal NM_005908 Hs.480415 79 MAP7 Microtubule-associated protein 7 NM_003980 Hs.486548 80 MAPKAPK5 Mitogen-activated protein kinase-activated NM_139078 Hs.413901 protein kinase 5 NM_003668 81 MET Met proto-oncogene (hepatocyte NM_000245 Hs.132966 growth factor receptor) 82 MMP14 Matrix metallopeptidase 14 (membrane- NM_004995 Hs.2399 inserted) 83 MX1 Myxovirus (influenza virus) resistance NM_002462 Hs.517307 1, interferon-inducible protein p78 (mouse) 84 MYL9 Myosin, light chain 9, regulatory NM_006097 Hs.504687 NM_181526 85 MYO9B Myosin IXB NM_004145 Hs.123198 86 NCOR1 Nuclear receptor co-repressor 1 NM_006311 Hs.462323 87 NDRG4 NDRG family member 4 NM_020465 Hs.322430 NM_022910 88 NDUFA5 NADH dehydrogenase (ubiquinone) 1 NM_005000 Hs.651219 alpha subcomplex, 5, 13 kDa 89 NEUROD2 Neurogenic differentiation 2 NM_006160 Hs.322431 90 NFKB2 Nuclear factor of kappa light poly- NM_001077494 Hs.73090 peptide gene enhancer in B-cells 2 NM_001077493 (p49/p100) NM_002502 91 NME6 Non-metastatic cells 6, protein expressed NM_005793 Hs.465558 in (nucleoside-diphosphate kinase) 92 NPY1R Neuropeptide Y receptor Y1 NM_000909 Hs.519057 93 NUP50 Nucleoporin 50 kDa NM_007172 Hs.475103 NM_153645 94 PDGFRA Platelet-derived growth factor receptor, NM_006206 Hs.74615 alpha polypeptide 95 PDHX Pyruvate dehydrogenase complex, NM_003477 Hs.502315 component X 96 PDLIM1 PDZ and LIM domain 1 (elfin) NM_020992 Hs.368525 97 PEX1 Peroxisome biogenesis factor 1 NM_000466 Hs.164682 98 PEX13 Peroxisome biogenesis factor 13 NM_002618 Hs.567316 99 PIB5PA Phosphatidylinositol (4,5) bisphosphate NM_014422 Hs.517549 5-phosphatase, A NM_001002837 100 PICK1 Protein interacting with PRKCA1 NM_012407 Hs.180871 NM_001039583 NM_001039584 101 PLEC1 Plectin 1, intermediate filament binding NM_201380 Hs.434248 protein 500 kDa NM_201384 NM_000445 NM_201379 NM_201383 NM_201382 NM_201381 NM_201378 102 POLE2 Polymerase (DNA directed), epsilon 2 NM_002692 Hs.162777 (p59 subunit) 103 POLE3 Polymerase (DNA directed), epsilon 3 NM_017443 Hs.108112 (p17 subunit) 104 PPIF Peptidylprolyl isomerase F (cyclophilin NM_005729 Hs.381072 F) 105 PPP2R5A Protein phosphatase 2, regulatory NM_006243 Hs.497684 subunit B′, alpha isoform 106 PSCD2 Pleckstrin homology, Sec7 and coiled- NM_017457 Hs.144011 coil domains 2 (cytohesin-2) NM_004228 107 PSMA5 Proteasome (prosome, macropain) NM_002790 Hs.485246 subunit, alpha type, 5 108 PTPN12 Protein tyrosine phosphatase, non-receptor NM_002835 Hs.61812 type 12 109 PTPN3 Protein tyrosine phosphatase, non-receptor NM_002829 Hs.436429 type 3 110 PTPRCAP Protein tyrosine phosphatase, receptor NM_005608 Hs.155975 type, C-associated protein 111 QKI Quaking homolog, KH domain RNA NM_206855 Hs.510324 binding (mouse) NM_206854 NM_206853 NM_006775 112 RASAL2 RAS protein activator like 2 NM_170692 Hs.656823 NM_004841 113 RASSF7 Ras association (RalGDS/AF-6) domain NM_003475 Hs.72925 family 7 114 RBM10 RNA binding motif protein 10 NM_005676 Hs.401509 NM_152856 115 RBM38 RNA binding motif protein 38 NM_017495 Hs.236361 NM_183425 116 RER1 RER1 retention in endoplasmic reticulum NM_007033 Hs.525527 1 homolog (S. cerevisiae) 117 RGL2 Ral guanine nucleotide dissociation NM_004761 Hs.509622 stimulator-like 2 118 RHOG Ras homolog gene family, member G NM_001665 Hs.501728 (rho G) 119 RNASE1 Ribonuclease, RNase A family, 1 NM_198235 Hs.78224 (pancreatic) NM_198234 NM_198232 NM_002933 120 RTN4 Reticulon 4 NM_020532 Hs.645283 NM_207521 NM_207520 NM_153828 NM_007008 121 RYR2 Ryanodine receptor 2 (cardiac) NM_001035 Hs.109514 122 SCC-112 SCC-112 protein NM_015200 Hs.331431 123 SDS Serine dehydratase NM_006843 Hs.654416 124 SF3B2 Splicing factor 3b, subunit 2, 145 kDa NM_006842 Hs.406423 125 SH3PXD2A SH3 and PX domains 2A NM_014631 Hs.594708 126 SIX6 Sine oculis homeobox homolog 6 NM_007374 Hs.194756 (Drosophila) 127 SLC10A1 Solute carrier family 10 (sodium/bile NM_003049 Hs.952 acid cotransporter family), member 1 128 SLC6A8 Solute carrier family 6 (neurotransmitter NM_005629 Hs.540696 transporter, creatine), member 8 129 SMG6 Smg-6 homolog, nonsense mediated NM_017575 Hs.448342 mRNA decay factor (C. elegans) 130 SNRPB2 Small nuclear ribonucleoprotein poly- NM_003092 Hs.280378 peptide B″ NM_198220 131 SOX11 SRY (sex determining region Y)-box NM_003108 Hs.432638 11 132 SPI1 Spleen focus forming virus (SFFV) NM_001080547 Hs.502511 proviral integration oncogene spi1 NM_003120 133 SRGAP3 SLIT-ROBO Rho GTPase activating NM_014850 Hs.654743 protein 3 NM_001033117 134 STX12 Syntaxin 12 NM_177424 Hs.523855 135 SYK Spleen tyrosine kinase NM_003177 Hs.371720 136 TAF4 TAF4 RNA polymerase II, TATA box NM_003185 Hs.18857 binding protein (TBP)-associated factor, 135 kDa 137 TCN2 Transcobalamin II NM_000355 Hs.417948 138 TGOLN2 Trans-golgi network protein 2 NM_006464 Hs.593382 139 TIA1 TIA1 cytotoxic granule-associated NM_022173 Hs.516075 RNA binding protein NM_022037 140 TOMM40 Translocase of outer mitochondrial NM_006114 Hs.655909 membrane 40 homolog (yeast) 141 TXN2 Thioredoxin 2 NM_012473 Hs.211929 142 UGCG UDP-glucose ceramide glucosyltransferase NM_003358 Hs.304249 143 USP11 Ubiquitin specific peptidase 11 NM_004651 Hs.171501 144 VDR Vitamin D (1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3) NM_001017535 Hs.524368 receptor NM_000376 145 VEGFC Vascular endothelial growth factor C NM_005429 Hs.435215 146 YWHAQ Tyrosine 3-monooxygenase/tryptophan NM_006826 Hs.74405 5-monooxygenase activation protein, theta polypeptide 147 ZNF140 Zinc finger protein 140 NM_003440 Hs.181552

TABLE 5 PTC marker set PIV-1 to PIV-9 Number PIV- marker gene description of gene Accession Nr. UniGeneID 1 WAS Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome (eczema- BC012738 Hs.2157 thrombocytopenia) 2 LRP4 Low density lipoprotein receptor-related BM802977 Hs.4930 protein 4 3 TFF3 Trefoil factor 3 (intestinal) BC017859 Hs.82961 4 ST3GAL6 ST3 beta-galactoside alpha-2,3-sialyl- BC023312 Hs.148716 transferase 6 5 STK39 Serine threonine kinase 39 BM455533 Hs.276271 (STE20/SPS1 homolog, yeast) 6 DPP4 Dipeptidyl-peptidase 4 (CD26, adenosine BC065265 Hs.368912 deaminase complexing protein 2) 7 CHI3L1 Chitinase 3-like 1 (cartilage glycoprotein-39) BC038354 Hs.382202 8 FABP4 Fatty acid binding protein 4, adipocyte BC003672 Hs.391561 9 LAMB3 Laminin, beta 3 BC075838 Hs.497636

TABLE 6 PTC marker set PV-1 to PV-11 Number PV- marker gene description of gene Accession Nr. UniGeneID 1 GPR4 G protein-coupled receptor 4 BC067535 Hs.17170 2 STAM2 Signal transducing adaptor molecule BC028740 Hs.17200 (SH3 domain and ITAM motif) 2 3 QPCT Glutaminyl-peptide cyclotransferase BC047756 Hs.79033 (glutaminyl cyclase) 4 CDK7 Cyclin-dependent kinase 7 (MO15 homolog, BC000834 Hs.184298 Xenopus laevis, cdk-activating kinase) 5 SFTPD Surfactant, pulmonary-associated protein D BC022318 Hs.253495 6 CYB5R1 Cytochrome b5 reductase 1 BC018732 Hs.334832 7 VWF Von Willebrand factor BI490763 Hs.440848 8 VWF Von Willebrand factor BQ888783 Hs.440848 9 PDHX Pyruvate dehydrogenase complex, BC010389 Hs.502315 component X 10 HOXA4 Homeobox A4 BM996071 Hs.654466 11 HOXA4 Homeobox A4 BI521357 Hs.654466

The inventive set can be used to detect cancer or tumor cells, in particular thyroid cancer, and even to distinguish benign thyroid nodules from malignant follicular thyroid carcinoma (FTC) and papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC). In preferred embodiments the set comprises moieties specific for at least 3 tumor markers selected from the tumor markers PI-1 to PI-33, PII-1 to PII-64, PIII-1 to PIII-70 and PIV-1 to PIV-9, preferably PIV-4 or PIV-5, and PV-1 to PV-11, preferably PV-1, PV-2 and PV-4 to PV-11, in particular from the tumor markers PI-1 to PI-33. These markers are specific for papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) and the diagnosed thyroid cancer can be characterized as PTC.

In a similar preferred embodiment the set comprises moieties specific for at least 3 tumor markers selected from the tumor markers FI-1 to FI-147. These markers are specific for follicular thyroid carcinoma (FTC) and the diagnosed thyroid cancer can be characterized as FTC.

Particularly preferred the set comprises a moiety specific for the tumor marker SERPINA1 (Serine (or cysteine) protease inhibitor, clade A (alpha-1 antiproteinase, antitrypsin), member 1; NM_(—)000295, NM_(—)001002236, NM_(—)001002235), which is a very potent marker for PTC. This marker as single member of the set can distinguish PTC form benign conditions.

Preferably the set comprises at least 5 or at least 10, preferably at least 15, more preferred at least 20, particular preferred at least 25, most preferred at least 30, moieties specific for the tumor markers of table 1 to 6 above. The set may be selected from moieties specific for any at least 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 25, 30, 33, 35, 40, 45, 50, 55, 60, 64, 65, 70, 75, 80, 85, 90, 95, 100, 110, 120, 130, 140, 145, 147, 150, 160, 170, 180, 190 or 200 of the above tumor markers, e.g. selected from PI-1 to PI-33, PII-1 to PII-64, PIII-1 to PIII-70, FI-1 to FI-147, PIV-1 to PIV-9, preferably PIV-4 or PIV-5, and PV-1 to PV-11, preferably PV-1, PV-2 and PV-4 to PV-11, in particular from any one of PI-1, PI-2, PI-3, PI-4, PI-5, PI-6, PI-7, PI-8, PI-9, PI-10, PI-11, PI-12, PI-13, PI-14, PI-15, PI-16, PI-17, PI-18, PI-19, PI-20, PI-21, PI-22, PI-23, PI-24, PI-25, PI-26, PI-27, PI-28, PI-29, PI-30, PI-31, PI-32, PI-33, PII-1, PII-2, PII-3, PII-4, PII-5, PII-6, PII-7, PII-8, PII-9, PII-10, PII-11, PII-12, PII-13, PII-14, PII-15, PII-16, PII-17, PII-18, PII-19, PII-20, PII-21, PII-22, PII-23, PII-24, PII-25, PII-26, PII-27, PII-28, PII-29, PII-30, PII-31, PII-32, PII-33, PII-34, PII-35, PII-36, PII-37, PII-38, PII-39, PII-40, PII-41, PII-42, PII-43, PII-44, PII-45, PII-46, PII-47, PII-48, PII-49, PII-50, PII-51, PII-52, PII-53, PII-54, PII-55, PII-56, PII-57, PII-58, PII-59, PII-60, PII-61, PII-62, PII-63, PII-64, PIII-1, PIII-2, PIII-3, PIII-4, PIII-5, PIII-6, PIII-7, PIII-8, PIII-9, PIII-10, PIII-11, PIII-12, PIII-13, PIII-14, PIII-15, PIII-16, PIII-17, PIII-18, PIII-19, PIII-20, PIII-21, PIII-22, PIII-23, PIII-24, PIII-25, PIII-26, PIII-27, PIII-28, PIII-29, PIII-30, PIII-31, PIII-32, PIII-33, PIII-34, PIII-35, PIII-36, PIII-37, PIII-38, PIII-39, PIII-40, PIII-41, PIII-42, PIII-43, PIII-44, PIII-45, PIII-46, PIII-47, PIII-48, PIII-49, PIII-50, PIII-51, PIII-52, PIII-53, PIII-54,

PIII-56, PIII-57, PIII-58, PIII-59, PIII-60, PIII-61, PIII-62, PIII-63, PIII-64, PIII-66, PIII-67, PIII-68, PIII-69, PIII-70, FI-1, FI-2, FI-3, FI-4, FI-5, FI-6, FI-7, FI-8, FI-9, FI-10, FI-11, FI-12, FI-13, FI-14, FI-15, FI-16, FI-17, FI-18, FI-19, FI-20, FI-21, FI-22, FI-23, FI-24, FI-25, FI-26, FI-27, FI-28, FI-29, FI-30, FI-31, FI-32, FI-33, FI-34, FI-35, FI-36, FI-37, FI-38, FI-39, FI-40, FI-41, FI-42, FI-43, FI-44, FI-45, FI-46, FI-47, FI-48, FI-49, FI-50, FI-51, FI-52, FI-53, FI-54, FI-55, FI-56, FI-57, FI-58, FI-59, FI-60, FI-61, FI-62, FI-63, FI-64, FI-65, FI-66, FI-67, FI-68, FI-69, FI-70, FI-71, FI-72, FI-73, FI-74, FI-75, FI-76, FI-77, FI-78, FI-79, FI-80, FI-81, FI-82, FI-83, FI-84, FI-85, FI-86, FI-87, FI-88, FI-89, FI-90, FI-91, FI-92, FI-93, FI-94, FI-95, FI-96, FI-97, FI-98, FI-99, FI-100, FI-101, FI-102, FI-103, FI-104, FI-105, FI-106, FI-107, FI-108, FI-109, FI-110, FI-111, 112, FI-113, FI-114, FI-115, FI-116, FI-117, FI-118, FI-119, FI-120, FI-121, FI-122, FI-123, FI-124, FI-125, FI-126, FI-127, FI-128, FI-129, FI-130, FI-131, FI-132, FI-133, FI-134, FI-135, FI-136, FI-137, FI-138, FI-139, FI-140, FI-141, FI-142, FI-143, FI-144, FI-145, FI-146, FI-147, PIV-1, PIV-2, PIV-3, PIV-4, PIV-5, PIV-6, PIV-7, PIV-8, PIV-9, PV-1, PV-2, PV-3, PV-4, PV-5, PV-6, PV-7, PV-8, PV-9, PV-10, PV-11. Preferably the set is specific for any complete subset selected from PI, PII, PIII, PIV, PV or FI. However it is also possible to pick any small number from these subsets or combined set since a distinction between benign and malignant states or the diagnosis of cancer can also be performed with acceptable certainty. For example in a preferred embodiment the inventive set comprises at least 5 (or any of the above mentioned numbers) of moieties specific for the tumor markers selected from FI-1 to FI-147. FIGS. 4 and 5 show such diagnostic classification probabilities for PTC and FTC. E.g. a set specific for any number of markers from table 2 (subset PII) specific for 5 markers has only an error margin of 4%, i.e. 96% of all cases would be classified correctly. An error value of 1% (99% certainty) is achieved with at least 20 members. In the case of the FTC specific markers a stable value of 8% errors is achieved with at least 11 different markers selected from the FI subset.

The moieties according to the invention are molecules suitable for specific recognition of the inventive markers. Such molecular recognition can be on the nucleotide, peptide or protein level. Preferably, the moieties are nucleic acids, especially oligonucleotides or primers specific for tumor marker nucleic acids. In another embodiment the moieties are antibodies (monoclonal or polyclonal) or antibody fragments, preferably selected from Fab, Fab′ Fab₂, F(ab′)₂ or scFv (single-chain variable fragments), specific for tumor marker proteins. According to the invention it is not of essence which sequence portion of the nucleic acids or which epitopes of the proteins are recognized by the moieties as long as molecular recognition is facilitated. Moieties already known in the art, especially disclosed in the references cited herein, which are all incorporated by reference, are suitable.

In a preferred embodiment the moieties of the set are immobilized on a solid support, preferably in the form of a microarray or nanoarray. The term “microarray”, likewise “nanoarray”, is used to describe a array of an microscopic arrangement (nanoarray for an array in nanometer scale) or refers to a carrier comprising such an array. Both definitions do not contradict each other and are applicable in the sense of the present invention. Preferably the set is provided on a chip whereon the moietes can be immobilized. Chips may be of any material suitable for the immobilization of biomolecules such as the moieties, including glass, modified glass (aldehyde modified) or metal chips.

According to the present invention a set for the specific use for tumor diagnosis is provided. However, it is also possible to provide larger sets including additional moieties for other purposes, in particular in a micoarray set-up, where it is possible to immobilize a multitude of oligonucleotides. However, it is preferred to provide a cost-efficient set including a limited amount of moieties for a single purpose.

Therefore, in a preferred embodiment the set comprises at least 10%, at least 15%, at least 20%, at least 25%, at least 30%, at least 35%, at least 40%, at least 45%, at least 50%, at least 55%, at least 60%, at least 65%, at least 70%, at least 75%, at least 80%, at least 85%, at least 90%, at least 95%, especially preferred at least 100%, of the total analyte binding moieties of the set are moieties, which are specific for the tumor markers selected from the group of PI-1 to P1-33, PII-1 to PII-64, PIII-1 to PIII-70, FI-1 to FI-147, PIV-1 to PIV-9, and PV-1 to PV-11 (all markers disclosed in tables 1 to 6, above) or from at least one of the groups of any one of PI-1 to PI-33, PII-1 to PII-64, PIII-1 to PIII-70, FI-1 to FI-147, PIV-1 to PIV-9, PV-1 to PV-11 or any combination thereof. Such preferred combinations are e.g. all markers of the groups PI-1 to PI-33, PII-1 to PII-64, PIII-1 to PIII-70, PIV-1 to PIV-9, and PV-1 to PV-11, being especially suitable for PTC diagnosis. As used herein “analyte binding moieties” refers to all moieties which can be used to specifically detect a marker, in particular a marker gene or gene product, including mRNA or expressed proteins. The genes are preferably genes of a mammal, in particular a human. The moieties are included in this generic term of any “analyte binding moieties” which can have multiple diagnostic targets. E.g., in the embodiment of a microarray the array comprises at least 10% oligonucleotides specific for the inventive markers. Since—according to current technology—detection means for genes on a chip (nucleic acid molecules, such as DNA-ESTs or complementary DNA-ESTs, respectively) allow easier and more robust array design, gene chips using DNA molecules (for detection of expressed mRNA in the sample) is a preferred embodiment of the present invention. Such gene chips also allow detection of a large number of gene products, whereas detection of a large number of proteins using protein chips (e.g. antibody chips) is more difficult. Detection of proteins is usually performed using ELISA techniques (i.e. a microtiter plate-, bead-, or chip-based ELISA) as an embodiment of a protein chip. A protein chip may comprise suitable means for specifically binding the gene products of the gene from the list according to tables 1 to 6, e.g. affinity molecules such as monoclonal or polyclonal antibodies or lectins.

In a further embodiment the set comprises up to 50000 analyte binding moieties, preferably up to 40000, up to 35000, up to 30000, up to 25000, up to 20000, up to 15000, up to 10000, up to 7500, up to 5000, up to 3000, up to 2000, up to 1000, up to 750, up to 500, up to 400, up to 300, or even more preferred up to 200 analyte binding moieties of any kind, such as oligonucleotides specific for any gene or gene product.

In a further aspect the present invention relates to a method for the detection of one or more thyroid cancer markers in a sample comprising using the inventive set and detecting the presence or measuring amount of the occurrence of tumor markers in the sample. The incidence or pattern of the detected markers can specifically identify the presence of these markers which can be relevant for cancer diagnosis or as a reference of healthy samples, or simply a genetic investigation of subjects.

Preferably the sample comprises cells preferably, mammal cells, particular preferred human cells, which can be provided from a biopsy or body fluid. In particular the presence or amount of the tumor markers is detected or measured in these cells after e.g. cell disintegration.

The method may comprise a detection or measurement by RNA-expression analysis, preferably by microarray or quantitative PCR, or protein analysis, preferably by tissue microarray detection, protein microarray detection, mRNA microarray detection, ELISA, multiplex assays, immunohistochemistry, or DNA analysis, comparative genomic hybridization (CGH)-arrays or single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)-analysis. These methods are known in the art and can be readily used for the method of the present invention, as examples of the vast field of genetic marker analysis.

In another aspect the present invention provides a method for the diagnosis of cancer in a patient, comprising providing a sample, preferably a sample of cells, of the patient, detecting one or more tumor markers by measuring tumor marker signals with the set according to the present invention, comparing the measured signal values of the tumor markers with values of the tumor markers in healthy samples and diagnosing cancer if more than 50%, preferably more than 60%, more preferred more than 70%, most preferred more than 80%, of the values differ compared to the values of the healthy samples by at least the standard deviation, preferably two times the standard deviation, even more preferred three times the standard deviation, of the method of measurement. The differences in genetic expression between samples of diseased subjects and healthy subjects can be of any kind and includes upregulation (e.g. of oncogenes) or downregulation (e.g. of tumor suppressor genes). It is possible that in healthy samples a gene is not expressed whereas expression occurs in diseased samples. The other way around it is also possible that in diseased samples a gene is not expressed whereas expression occurs in healthy samples.

Cancer can also be diagnosed if more than 50%, preferably more than 60%, more preferred more than 70%, most preferred more than 80%, of the values of the sample differ compared to the values of the healthy samples by at least a factor 1.5, at least a factor 2, at least a factor 3 or at least a factor 4. Usually the tumor marker expression products ar up or down regulated by a factor of 2 to 6, but also differences by a factor 60 are possible.

In yet another aspect the invention relates to a method for the identification of disease specific markers, as e.g. given in tables 1 to 6, preferably genes or gene expression patterns, comprising:

-   -   providing gene expression data on multiple potential disease         specific genes of at least two different expression datasets,     -   determining common genes of the datasets,     -   normalising each gene expression dataset, preferably by lowess         or quantile normalisation,     -   combining the gene expression datasets to a combined dataset,         and preferably normalising the combined dataset, and integrating         the combined dataset,     -   determination of genes of the combined data set by determining         its nearest shrunken centroid, which includes the determination         of a cross-validated error value of assigning the genes to the         disease and minimizing the error value by reducing the number of         members of the combined, preferably normalized, data set,         wherein the genes of the reduced data set are the markers         specific for the disease. The cross-validation can e.g. the         leave-one-out method. Preferably the determination step (the         classification step) comprises the determination of a maximized         threshold of the difference of the normalized expression value         for each gene to the centroid value through the         cross-validation. Then the genes with normalized expression         values lower than the threshold are removed from the reduced (or         shrunken) set and genes with values greater than the threshold         to the centroid are specific for the disease. Classification by         the shrunken centrois methods are e.g. disclosed by Tibshirani         et al. (PNAS USA 99(10):105-114 (2004)), Shen et al.         (Bioinformatics 22(22) (2006): 2635-42) and Wang et al.         (Bioinformatics 23(8) (2007): 972-9), which disclosures are         incorporated herein by reference.

The determination step can be repeated multiple times by leaving out the resulting markers of each previous step. The nearest shrunken centroid method will yield a new result set of further markers which are specific for the disease. Preferably the determination step is repeated 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 or more times. Depending on the size of the combined data set it will give further specific markers. Preferably a cross-validation is performed on each result. The determination can be repeated until the cross-validation indicates an error value of e.g. below 50%, 60%, 70% or 80%. At lower values it can be expected that all markers have been identified.

The initial gene expression data sets are raw expression profiles, e.g. each obtained from a multi genetic microarray analysis. Most of the measured genes are expected not to be involved with the disease and the inventive method is capable to identify characteristic marker genes form at least two, preferably at least three, at least four, at least five, at least six, at least seven or at least eight expression data sets. Therefore the expression data of the initial data sets preferably comprises data of at least two different microarray datasets, in particular with study or platform specific biases. Such biases can occur by using only a specific set up during the measurement of the expression data, e.g. a microarray, which can significantly differ from set ups of other datasets. The present invention has the advantage that during the combination of such sets the problems of such measurement biases are overcome. Furthermore the obtained (initial) gene expression data is raw, unprocessed gene expression data, i.e. no refinement or data conversion was performed prior to the inventive method.

Preferably the disease is a genetic disorder, preferably a disorder with altered gene expression, in particular preferred cancer. Other types of disorders with altered gene expression can be e.g. pathogen infections, in particular viral including retroviral infections, radiation damage and age related disorders.

The step of combining and integrating the combined dataset removed study specific biases. In preferred embodiments this step is performed by stepwise combination of two gene expression datasets per step and integration of the combined dataset, preferably by DWD (Distance Weighted Discrimination). E.g. in the case of 3 data sets at first set 1 is combined with set 2 and the merged set 1+2 is combined with set 3. Integration may e.g. include calculating the normal vector of the combined dataset and subsequently a hyperplane which separates clusters (e.g. of the initial datasets) of data values of the dataset and subtracting the dataset means as in the DWD method. In principle any data integration method which removes biases can be used for the inventive method.

Preferably the at least one, preferably two, three, four, five, six, seven or eight, obtained expression datasets comprise data of at least 10, preferably at least 20, more preferred at least 30, even more preferred at least 40, at least 50, at least 70, at least 100, at least 120, at least 140, at least 160 or at even at least 200 different genes. The inventive method is particularly suitable to filter through large data sets and identify the characteristic markers therein. The obtained set of these markers is also referred to as “classifier”.

This method of identifying cancer specific markers and thus moieties, e.g. oligonucleotides or antibodies, specific for cancer can also be used in the above method of diagnosing cancer. I.e. the markers corresponding to the set of moieties used for the diagnostic method are identified (also called “classified”) according to the above method which includes the refinement and establishing of centroid values of the measured values of the initial data sets. This pattern can then be used to diagnose cancer if the values of the sample of the patient are closer to the clustered centroid value of the tumor markers. Accordingly a method for the diagnosis of cancer in a patient is provided, comprising providing a sample, preferably a sample of cells, from the patient, detecting one or more tumor markers by measuring tumor marker signals with the set according to the present invention, comparing the measured signal values of the tumor markers with values of the tumor markers in cancer samples by the identification method mentioned above and diagnosing cancer if the nearest shrunken centroid of values of the sample of the patient for at least 50%, preferably at least 60%, more preferred at least 70% or even at least 80%, most preferred 90%, markers of the set is within the standard deviation, preferably two times the standard deviation, even more preferred three times the standard deviation, of the method of measurement to the nearest shrunken centroid of the tumor markers identified with the cancer samples.

The present invention is further illustrated by the following figures and examples without being specifically restricted thereto. All references cited herein are incorporated by reference.

FIGURES

FIG. 1: The first two principal components before and after DWD—integration. Datasets are coded by colour and tumor entities are coded by letters according to the legend.

FIG. 2: Dendrogram of the DWD integrated data on all genes. The colors of branches of the dendrogram indicate the dataset of the corresponding sample, the color of the leaf-label indicates the tumor entity.

FIG. 3: Discrimination between papillary carcinoma and benign nodules across four different datasets by only one gene (SERPINA1)

FIG. 4 shows a graph of the average error probability during PTC classification of seduced sets (classifier) of markers from table 2.

FIG. 5 shows a graph of the average error probability during FTC classification of seduced sets (classifier) of markers from table 4.

EXAMPLES Example 1 Datasets

Datasets were downloaded either from websites or from public repositories (GEO, ArrayExpress). Table 7 shows a summary of the datasets used in this study (He et al, PNAS USA 102(52): 19075-80 (2005); Huang et al. PNAS USA 98(26): 15044-49 (2001); Jarzab Cancer Res 65(4): 1587-97 (2005); Lacroix Am J Pathol 167(1): 223-231 (2005); J Clin Endocrinol Metab 90(5): 2512-21 (2005)). Here, three different categories of non-cancer tissues are used: contralateral (c. lat) for healthy surrounding tissue paired with a tumor sample, other disease (o.d.) for thyroid tissue operated for other disease and SN (Struma nodosa) for benign thyroid nodules. For all subsequent analysis these were combined as healthy.

TABLE 7 Microarray Data used for Meta Analysis Published FTA FTC PTC SN o.d. c.lat Platform He PNAS 0 0 9 0 0 9 Affy 2005 U133plus Huang PNAS 0 0 8 8 0 0 Affy 2001 U133A Jarzab Cancer 0 0 23 0 11 17 Affy Res 2005 U133A Lacroix Am J Path 4 8 0 11 0 0 Agilent 2005 Custom Reyes not 0 0 7 0 0 7 Affy published? U133A Weber J Clin 12 12 0 0 0 0 Affy Endocr U95A Metabol 2005

Example 2 Finding the Gene Overlap

The first step in any MetaAnalysis of microarray data is to find the set of genes which is shared by all microarray platforms used in the analysis. Traditionally, overlap is assessed by finding common UniGene identifiers. This, however, disregards all possible splice variations in the genes under investigation. For example, if a gene had 2 splice variants, one of which was differentially expressed in the experiment and the other not and if one platform would contain an oligo specific only to the differentially expressed variant and the other platform only an oligo to the other variant, then a matching based on UniGene would merge probes which measure different things.

To overcome this problem, the approach adopted here merges only probes which annotate to the same set of RefSeq identifiers. To this end all matching RefSeqs were downloaded for each probe(set), either via the Bioconductor annotation packages (hgu133a, hgu95a and hgu133plus2; available at the web www.bioconductor.org) or by a BLAST search of the sequences at NCBI Database. Then, for each probe the RefSeqs were sorted and concatenated. This is the most accurate representation of the entity measured on the array. The median value was used, if one set of RefSeqs was represented by multiple probes on the array. 5707 different sets of RefSeqs were present on all arrays.

Example 3 Preprocessing and Data Integration

First each dataset was background-corrected and normalised separately, as recommended for each platform (lowess for dual color and quantile normalisation for single color experiments) (Bolstad et al. Bioinformatics 19(2): 185-193(2003); Smyth et al. Methods 31(4): 265-273 (2003)), then they were merged and quantile normalised collectively. Despite all preprocessing, it has been shown that data generated on different microarray platforms or on different generations of the same platform may not be comparable due to platform specific biases (Eszlinger et al. Clin Endocrinol Metab 91(5): 1934-1942 (2006)). This is also evident from principal component analysis of the merged data as shown in FIG. 1. In order to correct for these biases, methods have been developed for integration of microarray data. One of these methods is Distance Weighted Discrimination (DWD) which is described in detail elsewhere (Benito et al. Bioinformatics 20(1): 105-114 (2004)). Briefly, DWD projects data points onto the normal vector of a class (dataset)—separating hyperplane as calculated by a modified Support Vector Machine (SVM) and subtracts the class (dataset) means. Therefore, for a multiclass problem (more than 2 datasets to merge), the datasets need to be merged sequentially. For 6 datasets this leads to 720 different possibilities for merging, not including tree structured approaches, e.g instead of (((1+2)+3)+4), consider ((1+2)+(3+4)). The merging orders applied here were chosen on the general idea that similar and larger datasets should be merged first and more disparate ones later. It is also worth noting, that adding a sample to a DWD merged dataset will change the whole dataset just like adding a new number to a vector of numbers will change its mean.

Data Integration by DWD is illustrated in FIG. 1 which shows the effect of the data integration method on the first two principal components. In this analysis, DWD was able to remove the separation between the datasets as indicated by the PC-plots and by the mixing of the branches in the dendrogram (see FIG. 2). However, even in the DWD-integrated dataset the Lacroix data still partly separates from the other data. Most likely this is due to the platform; the lacroix-data is the only data from a non-Affymetrix platform. FIG. 2 shows dendrograms of the respective integrated datasets. Also, DWD integration does not seem to hamper the discrimination between the tumor entities (see table 8 below).

Example 4 Classification

For probe selection, classification and cross-validation a nearest shrunken centroid method was chosen (Tibshirani et al. PNAS USA 99(10):105-114 (2004)) (implemented in the Bioconductor package pamr). It was chosen for several reasons: it allows multiclass classification and it runs features selection, classification and cross-validation in one go. Briefly, it calculates several different possible classifiers using different shrinkage thresholds (i.e. different number of genes) and finds the best threshold from crossvalidation. The classifier was picked with the smallest number of genes (largest threshold), if more than one threshold yielded the same crossvalidation results.

Example 5 Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma (PTC)

First, and as a quality measure for each study, each dataset was taken separately (before DWD-integration) and a pamr classification and leave-one-out cross-validation (loocv) was performed. The results of the cross-validation are near perfect with single samples classifying wrongly. However, with the exception of the classifier from the He dataset, none of these classifiers can be applied to any of the other dataset. Classification results are rarely ever higher than expected by chance. If, however, one uses the DWD-integrated data (below), the classifiers already fit much better (see table 8).

TABLE 8 Classification results when applying classifiers from one study on another study. Before data integration (left) and after DWD integration (right) test train he huang jarzab reyes test train he huang jarzab reyes he 1.00 1.00 0.98 1.00 he 1.00 1.00 0.96 1.00 huang 0.50 1.00 0.55 0.50 huang 0.50 1.00 0.90 0.71 jarzab 0.50 0.81 1.00 0.57 jarzab 0.89 1.00 1.00 1.00 reyes 0.78 0.50 0.92 1.00 reyes 0.89 0.88 0.90 1.00

Then a pamr—classifier was built for the complete DWD-integrated dataset and validated in a leave-one-out crossvalidation. This identified a one (!) gene classifier, which classifies 99% of samples correctly in loocv. The discriminative gene is SERPINA1. FIG. 3 shows the discrimination of PTC vs SN before and after DWD. One could add up to 422 genes to the classifier and still yield 99% accuracy (from loocv). If one removes the SERPINA1-probe from the analysis, one can build again a classifier (subsequently denominated classifier) with 99% accuracy in loocv, this time using a 9-gene signature (see Table 3). Removing these 9 genes yields another 9-gene classifier with a similar performance (99% accuracy), and further an 11-gene classifier with 99% accuracy. Such further classifiers are e.g. given in tables 1 to 3, 5 and 6 (above) for PTC.

However, similar results are obtained doing the same analysis on the non-integrated data. Taking into account the results of PCA (FIG. 1), where it was obvious that the variance explained by the different datasets is much larger than the variance explained by tumor entity, one could imagine that the bias introduced by the datasets may help (or hamper) classification. Therefore a study-crossvalidation was performed, whereby sequentially one study was taken out from the dataset, a was classifier built from the remaining samples and tested on the eliminated dataset. On the DWD-integrated data, the accuracy of prediction was 100, 100, 98 and 100% leaving out He, Huang, Jarzab and Reyes from the classifier, respectively. For the non-integrated data, the results were similar (100, 100, 94 and 100%).

TABLE 9 Genes in classifier2 (after leaving out SERPINA1) Symbol Title Cluster Accession WAS Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome Hs.2157 BC012738 (eczema-thrombocytopenia) LRP4 Low density lipoprotein receptor- Hs.4930 BM802977 related protein 4 TFF3 Trefoil factor 3 (intestinal) Hs.82961 BC017859 ST3GAL6 ST3 beta-galactoside alpha-2,3- Hs.148716 BC023312 sialyltransferase 6 STK39 Serine threonine kinase 39 Hs.276271 BM455533 (STE20/SPS1 homolog, yeast) DPP4 Dipeptidyl-peptidase 4 (CD26, Hs.368912 BC065265 adenosine deaminase complexing protein 2) CHI3L1 Chitinase 3-like 1 (cartilage Hs.382202 BC038354 glycoprotein-39) FABP4 Fatty acid binding protein 4, Hs.391561 BC003672 adipocyte LAMB3 Laminin, beta 3 Hs.497636 BC075838

Example 6 Follicular Carcinoma

A similar analysis was also performed for the FTC data, but crossvalidation was hampered, due to the very limited availability of data. Again, a classifier was built for each dataset (Lacroix and Weber). They achieved a loocv-accuracy of 96% (Weber) and 100% (Lacroix) on 25 and 3997 genes. The number of genes in the Lacroix-data already suggests overfitting, which was confirmed by cross-classification with the other dataset (25 and 35% accuracy, respectively). Also, the gene-overlap between the two classifiers is low (between 0 and 10% depending on the threshold). If, however the 2 datasets are combined using DWD, a 147-gene classifier (table 4 above) could be built which was able to correctly identify samples (with a 92% accuracy).

Example 7 Discussion

The present invention represents the largest cohort of thyroid carcinoma microarray data analysed to date. It makes use of the novel combinatory method using the latest algorithms for microarray data integration and classification. Nevertheless, meta-analysis of microarray data still poses a challenge, mainly because single microrarray investigations are aimed at at least partly different questions and hence use different experimental designs. Moreover, the number of thyroid tumor microarray data available to date is still comparably low (compared to breast cancer, e.g.). Therefore, when doing meta analysis one is forced to use all data available, even if the patient cohorts represent a rather heterogeneous and potentially biased population. More specifically, it is difficult to obtain a homogenous collection of control material (from healthy patients). These are usually taken from patients who were operated for other thyroid disease which is in turn very likely to cause a change in gene expression as measured on microarrays. The generation of homogeneous patient cohorts is further hampered by limited availability of patient data like age, gender, genetic background, etc.

When doing meta analysis of microarray data, many researchers have based their approach on comparing gene lists from published studies (Griffith et al, cited above). This is very useful, as one can include all studies in the analysis and is not limited to the studies where raw data is available. However, the studies generally follow very different analysis strategies, some more rigorous than others. It is not under the control of the meta-analyst how the authors arrived at the gene lists. Therefore these analyses may be biased.

Regarding data integration, according to the original DWD paper, DWD performs best when at least 25-30 samples per dataset are present. In the present study, 4 out of 6 datasets contained less than 20 samples. Still DWD performed comparably well for removing platform biases (see Table 8).

DWD greatly improved the results of PCA (FIG. 1), hierarchical clustering (FIG. 2) and the classification accuracy when applying a classifier from one study to another study (Table 8). In this light it was surprising to see that the non-integrated data performed equally well in the study crossvalidation compared to the DWD-integrated data. One explanation for this is that any study-specific bias will become less important the more studies are being evaluated. Given that the study bias affects some genes more than others, the more affected genes will be less likely to survive the pamr-thresholding due to the variance introduced by the study-bias. However, as shown above, there is a large abundance of genes discriminating PTC and benign nodules. As long as one (or a few) of those genes is not affected by the study bias, it (they) will survive thresholding and discrimination between tumor entities will still be possible.

There is an apparent discrepancy when one looks at FIG. 3: Before DWD, the PTC samples have a higher SERPINA1 expression while after DWD it is the other way round. However, as noted in the Materials and Methods section, DWD subtracts the class means from each sample. This simply means that before DWD the study bias for SERPINA1 is higher than the difference in expression between the tumor classes. This also explains, why in the not-integrated data SERPINA1 is not a well working classifier.

A recent Meta-Analysis and Meta-Review by Griffith et.al. (cited above) has summarised genes with a diagnostic potential in the context of thyroid disease. They published lists of genes which appeared in more than one high-throughput study (Microarray, SAGE) analysing thyroid disease and applied a ranking system. In their analysis SERPINA1 scored the third highest, and TFF3, which is part of classifier2 (when leaving out SERPINA1), scored second. Four out of nine genes from classifier2 appeared in the list from Griffith et.al. (LRP4, TFF3, DPP4 and FABP4).

Most of these lists were generated from microarray analysis. However, even when comparing the genes in the classifiers to genelists generated with independent technologies, like cDNA library generation, there is substantial overlap. SERPINA1 appears in their lists as well as four out of the nine genes from classifier2 (TFF3, DPP4, CHI3L1 and LAMB3).

For the case of follicular thyroid disease, building a robust classifier is much more difficult. This is mainly down to the limited availability of data. Also, the two datasets were very different in terms of the platforms used; while all other datasets were generated on Affymetrix GeneChips arrays of different generations, the Lacroix data was generated on a custom Agilent platform. Nevertheless the classifier (set) of table 4 was able to identify most samples correctly in loocv.

The power of the meta analysis approach adopted here is demonstrated by a 99% loocv-accuracy (97.9% weighted average accuracy in the study crossvalidation) for the distinction between papillary thyroid carcinoma and benign nodules. This has been achieved on the largest and most diverse dataset so far (99 samples from 4 different studies).

One sample was classified wrongly, and although it is not possible to correctly map the samples from this analysis to the original analysis, the misclassified sample is from the same group (PTC, validation group) as the sample which was wrongly classified in the original analysis. According to Jarzab et.al. the sample was an outlier because it contained only tumor cells. 

1.-24. (canceled)
 25. A set of moieties comprising moieties specific for at least 3 tumor markers, wherein the three tumor markers are further defined as being any three of tumor markers PI-1 to PI-33, PII-1 to PII-64, PIII-1 to PIII-70, FI-1 to FI-147, and PIV-1 to PIV-9.
 26. The set of claim 25, wherein the set comprises moieties specific for PIV-4, PIV-5, or any of PV-1 to PV-11.
 27. The set of claim 26, wherein at least one of the three tumor markers is further defined as being PV-1, PV-2, or any of PV-4 to PV-11.
 28. The set of claim 25, wherein the set comprises moieties specific for at least 3 of the listed tumor markers.
 29. The set of claim 25, wherein the set comprises moieties specific for at least 3 tumor markers, wherein the three tumor markers are further defined as being any three of tumor markers PI-1 to PI-33.
 30. The set of claim 25, wherein the set comprises moieties specific for at least 3 tumor markers, wherein the three tumor markers are further defined as being any three of tumor markers FI-1 to FI-147.
 31. The set of claim 25, wherein the set comprises a moiety specific for the tumor marker SERPINA1.
 32. The set of claim 25, further defined as comprising at least 5 moieties specific for the tumor markers of tables 1 to
 6. 33. The set of claim 32, further defined as comprising at least 10 moieties specific for the tumor markers of tables 1 to
 6. 34. The set of claim 25, wherein the moieties are oligonucleotides specific for tumor marker nucleic acids.
 35. The set of claim 25, wherein the moieties are antibodies or antibody fragments.
 36. The set of claim 35, wherein the antibodies are further defined as Fab, Fab′ Fab₂, F(ab′)₂ or scFv, specific for tumor marker proteins.
 37. The set of claim 25, wherein the moieties are immobilized on a solid support.
 38. The set of claim 37, wherein the solid support is a microarray.
 39. The set of claim 25, wherein at least 10% of all analyte binding moieties of the set are moieties which are specific for tumor markers further defined as any combination of PI-1 to PI-33, PII-1 to PII-64, PIII-1 to PIII-70, FI-1 to FI-147, PIV-1 to PIV-9, and PV-1 to PV-11.
 40. The set of claim 25, wherein the set comprises less than 50000 analyte binding moieties.
 41. A method for detecting one or more thyroid cancer markers in a sample comprising using the set of claim 25 and detecting the presence or measuring amount of the occurrence of tumor markers in the sample.
 42. The method of claim 41, wherein the sample comprises mammalian cells.
 43. The method of claim 42, where the mammalian cells are human cells.
 44. The method of claim 41, wherein the detection or measurement is done by RNA-expression analysis, protein analysis, protein microarray detection, mRNA microarray detection, ELISA, a multiplex assay, immunohistochemistry, DNA analysis, comparative genomic hybridization (CGH)-arrays, or single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)-analysis.
 45. The method of claim 44, wherein the detection or measurement is done by tissue microarray detection, microarray analysis, or quantitative PCR.
 46. A method for diagnosis of cancer in a patient comprising: providing a sample from the patient; detecting one or more tumor markers with a set of claim 25; comparing measured signal values of the tumor markers with values of the tumor markers in a healthy sample; and diagnosing cancer if more than 50% of the values differ compared to the values of the healthy samples by at least the standard deviation of the method of measurement and/or differ compared to the values of the healthy samples by at least a factor 1.5.
 47. The method of claim 46, wherein the sample is a cell sample.
 48. A method for the identification of disease specific markers comprising: providing gene expression data on multiple potential disease specific genes of at least two different expression datasets; determining common genes of the datasets; normalizing each gene expression dataset; combining the gene expression datasets to a combined dataset; and determining genes of the combined data set by determining its nearest shrunken centroid, which includes determination of a cross-validated error value of assigning the genes to the disease and minimizing the error value by reducing the number of members of the combined, preferably normalized, data set; wherein the genes of the reduced data set are the markers specific for the disease. 